June 25, 2014

Where's the Coverage? Abbas Rejects "Trust, Good Will and Mutual Security"

Earlier this month, Manuel Hassassian, the PLO ambassador to the United Kingdom, and Professor Raphael Cohen-Almagor, Founder and Director of the Middle East Study Group at the University of Hull, co-authored an article in Fathom, a quarterly journal published by the Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre (BICOM). In the article, the two declare:

To build genuine peace, it is essential to have trust, good will and mutual security. We believe that if there is a will, there is a way. Peace is a precious commodity and therefore requires a high price for its achievement, reaching a solution that is agreeable to both. The peace deal should be attractive to both, equally. It cannot be one-sided, enforced or coerced.

Among other parameters of a possible deal the two lay out, they explicitly state:

Israel shall recognise the State of Palestine. Palestine shall recognise the Jewish State of Israel.

A Palestinian diplomat recognizes Israel as a Jewish state. That alone should generate media buzz but the mainstream press was entirely silent. That’s not all. On the so-called “right of return,” the two authors propose:

The 1948 Palestinian refugees will be able to settle in Palestine… but massive refugee return to Israel will not be allowed.

An official of the Palestinian Authority tacitly admits that flooding Israel with Palestinian Arabs is not a viable option. Again, the press should be atwitter. Yet the media did not seem to notice.

However, Mahmoud Abbas did notice. Upon the article’s publication, Ambassador Hassassian was recalled and reprimanded. The Telegraph reported:

“Ramallah was very angry with this statement. This is not the position of the Palestinian Authority,” said Amal Jadou, head of the PA foreign ministry’s European desk. She said Mr. Hassassian had been ordered to report to Ramallah, the West Bank’s de facto capital, to give an explanation.

As you can imagine, Hassassian has been backpedaling ever since. After all, trust, good will and mutual security are not consistent with PA policy. And that should be widely reported. But… where’s the coverage?